W3C patent policy frameword

The problem with allowing the W3C to endorse "Reasonable and
Non-Discriminatory (RAND) Licensing" is that, simply put, standards
which require the payment of royalties are neither reasonable nor
non-discriminatory.

In fact, standards which require royalty payments discriminate against a
group that has been and continues to be instrumental in the creation and
growth of the Internet, and a group which powers many aspects of the
Internet today, namely the Open Source or Free Software community.

In my opinion, one of the core tests for a proposed standard should be
whether it can be implemented under an Open Source license such as the
GNU Public License.  The fact that HTTP was such a standard permitted
the creation of the Apache web server which, according to a recent
Netcraft survey, provides 60% of all websites on the Internet, over
twice that of its closest rival, Microsoft (see
http://www.netcraft.com/survey/).

By endorsing "RAND" standards, the W3C is acting as little more than a
business development department for the corporation to whom royalties
must be paid - and this is completely inappropriate for an organization
whose goal is to "lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by
developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its
interoperability".

Ian Clarke.
Coordinator - The Freenet Project
Chief Technology Officer - Uprizer Inc.